Scribbled on the back of the photo in pencil is: New swimming pool at Oregon City.
File this baby under, “creepy.”
Have some time for some low-level navel gazing? Pull up a chair.
Lost Oregon was never intended to be a history blog. It was more of a way for me to explore Portland through the eyes of [...]
Archive for the ‘Design and Architecture’ Category
Oregon City swimming pool
Posted in Design and Architecture, Oregon History on March 10, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Oregon Centennial Expo, 1959
Posted in Design and Architecture, Oregon History, Oregon Roadside, Portland History, Portland kitsch on February 15, 2009 | 11 Comments »
Man, sesquicentennial fever has gripped Oregon. Officially launched on Saturday with a kick-off party in Salem and lots of museums and organizations offering free admission, the party is just getting started – year-round events are planned all year to get people of all ages involved in the history of their state. And if the economy [...]
The Clothes Horse on Broadway
Posted in Design and Architecture, Oregon History, Portland History, Portland kitsch on January 2, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Score.
Just when I think I’ve exhausted my 60s Portland finds, this sucker falls out of the sky.
The Clothes Horse [no, not the Clothes Whore] was located at 721 SW Broadway and was billed as “one of America’s most outstanding specialty shops!” [The exclamation point is theirs.]
The keyword here is “specialty” – based on the photos [...]
Riverside West reborn as…Hotel Fifty
Posted in Design and Architecture, Oregon History, Portland History, tagged h50 bistro, hotel fifty on December 28, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Once boasting air conditioning, ample free parking, color TV and direct dialing phones, the Riverside West Motor Hotel has been reborn as the swanky new Hotel Fifty.
Here’s a shot from approximately the early 60s:
And here’s the now shot:
Me likey.
Hotel Fifty boasts the H5O bistro & bar, and according to the web site, a “$7M [...]
The late, great Broadway
Posted in Design and Architecture, Oregon History, Portland History, tagged broadway portland, orpheum theater, paramount theater on December 27, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Then:
Now:
View Larger Map
Broadway in Portland is kind of a boring stretch these days. On the other hand, it also has more trees than it did in 1955 when the above postcard was snapped [my clue was the 1955 “It’s Always Fair Weather” being screened on the theater on the right].
Of course, The Jackson Tour reigns [...]
Lost: The Castle Jazz Club in Gladstone
Posted in Design and Architecture, tagged cast, castle jazz band, gladstone on October 25, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Beginning in the 1940s, The Castle Jazz Band was a big deal in the Portland jazz Dixieland scene, named after the Castle jazz club in Gladstone. Here’s a description of the building from Robert Dietsche’s excellent Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz:
In the thirties it was a roadhouse tavern made out of hand-cut stone [...]
Lost Oregon Video
Posted in Design and Architecture, Oregon Roadside, Portland History, tagged kellogg bowl, lost oregon video, milwaukie on October 13, 2008 | 6 Comments »
So, I’m doing a bit of an experiment with my new Ultra Flip video camera. I’m shooting and editing small films [nothing more than 120 seconds] of mid-century, historical and not-yet forgotten buildings and sites around the Portland metro area.
I might even work up to doing interviews and – gasp- edit them into the [...]
The United States of Charles Phoenix
Posted in Design and Architecture, Oregon History, Oregon Roadside, Portland History, tagged charles phoenix, mcm league portland on October 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The cool kids at Portland’s Mid-Century Modern League shot me over a press release announcing a show they’re putting on. It’s a retro slide show performance by “pop-culture humorist” and author Charles Phoenix, celebrating 50s and 60s tourist traps, theme parks, car culture, space age style, parties, holidays and more. Phoenix also promises to bring [...]
